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“He's been very good,” said the Kerry manager. “He's come in, he's kept his head down, worked hard, everything you'd expect from a new player coming in.

“He’ll get his chance during the National League and we're all looking forward to seeing it.

“There has to be patience with him. He is not yet 19. He is a young man. He has the world at his feet. He is very level-headed. We can't ask any more from him.

“We all need to be patient. The public need to be patient. We as a management need to be patient. He needs to be patient himself.”

Having failed to satisfactorily build on the 2014 All-Ireland senior success, as the minors picked up four consecutive titles in the interim, Fitzmaurice is overseeing a “three-year plan” in Kerry at present, though he knows that doesn’t give him a free pass in terms of delivering success in the shorter-term.

“There is only one currency in Kerry. I know that. I've been through that as a player and manager. It is what it is. That isn't going to change.

“You deal with that. You treat every game seriously, you try win every game. We'll see where that takes it.

“If you are doing well in the League, there's momentum to be got from that going into the Championship.

“Any years we have won the League, we have tended to do well in the Championship. Last year, it didn't quite tally like that.

“Division One is so competitive that if you are managing to win that, it is a huge achievement.

“The Championship will be different this year because of the Super 8s. I'm not sure if that correlation will be as prevalent from now on.”